


But When I Put it All Together it All Comes Back to You

by Cat_McSwain_8



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, LadyNoir - Freeform, Ladynoir July, Ladynoir July 2020, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Needs a Break, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, pre-reveal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25021096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat_McSwain_8/pseuds/Cat_McSwain_8
Summary: When life gets crazier than ever, Ladybug starts to realize that what she really needs has been right in front of her the whole time in the form of her silly partner. (Takes place post Miracle-Queen; spoilers for Season 3 finale)Based on prompts for Ladynoir July 2020![Life got crazy this month so consider this abandoned... for now at least]
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	But When I Put it All Together it All Comes Back to You

Day 1 – The Wall Between Us

Marinette was tired—so, so _tired_.

Between school, helping at the bakery, commissions, and saving Paris from akumas, Marinette had already felt like she was in over her head. Add in her new duties as Guardian, and she was so far in over her head that she didn’t know if she could do it much longer. It had been six months and while parts of it had gotten easier, the constant stress and overwhelming responsibility of being both Ladybug and the Guardian were as strong as they had been that first day.

But since it was her own fault that Master Fu had to designate her as the new Guardian, she couldn’t help but feel like maybe this was her own form of penance for her mistakes. She _deserved_ to be exhausted and stressed.

And it wasn’t like Hawkmoth was taking it any easier on them. If anything, his attacks had only increased in intensity since Fu’s departure, and the akumas were often much nastier than they ever had been before.

Today’s was no exception. Maybe if it hadn’t made its appearance right when Marinette was feverishly trying to finish an essay due the next morning, she would have been able to cope. She would have been able to handle it. But it _had_ appeared while she was working on her essay, and she wasn’t handling it. Suddenly it was all too much.

“Ladybug!”

Chat’s warning shout came just in time, and she swerved to avoid the razor-sharp disc that had been aimed at her head. But her movements weren’t as fluid as they normally were. The edge of the disc managed to slice her right cheek, and she let out a loud hiss of pain.

The next second, Chat was landing next to her, worry clear on his face.

“Are you okay, LB?”

She gave him a weak smile. “Just a scratch.”

The blood she could feel trickling down her cheek told another story, but she ignored it.

“Let’s finish this.”

Chat spared her another worried look before smiling and agreeing. Now that Marinette was more focused, the fight went more smoothly, and it was only a few minutes later that her Miraculous Ladybug was repairing all the damage.

“Can you help the akuma victim?” Ladybug asked, her tone doing nothing to hide just how tired she is.

Not waiting for an answer, knowing that Chat would help the man, she turned away to leave. A gentle but firm grip on her wrist had her turning back around.

“Wait for me.” Chat’s own tone left no room for argument. Ladybug sighed and gave him a terse nod. He held her gaze for several seconds, as though making sure she wouldn’t change her mind and run off without him, before he released her wrist and turned to help the man.

Ladybug forced a smile on her face as she greeted the civilians who began to approach her, thanking her for her help or asking for her autograph. Fortunately for all of them, the man told Chat he could find his own way home and the superhero duo was able to leave the scene before it got too crowded.

Rather than suggest they meet at their usual place, Chat simply wrapped an arm around Ladybug’s waist and used his baton to take them up to a nearby roof. Knowing that it would still be too close to the action that had just occurred—with too many prying eyes—he kept hold of her and moved from roof to roof until he found one that would work.

The fact that Ladybug simply let him hold her for such a long time with no objection had him even more concerned as he released her on the selected rooftop.

“LB, you need to tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s nothing, Chat.”

“We both know that’s not true. You were off your game back there. That was way too close of a fight.”

“It’s nothing,” she repeated. “It’s fine. I just… I just…”

Suddenly it felt a lot harder for her to breathe. “I’m…” Her breaths were coming quicker now, and her eyes filled with tears before spilling over.

Chat didn’t hesitate as he pulled her in, holding her rightly as the tears came faster.

“Shhh,” he soothed. “You’re okay. I’m here. Breathe in and out, LB. You got this.”

“I’m not okay,” she sobbed, letting him hold her.

“I know, Bugaboo. Just breathe.”

Focusing on his words, her breathing and tears had finally started to slow when her earrings gave their first warning beep. His ring followed almost immediately after.

She tried to pull away, knowing she needed to leave, but he continued to hold her in place.

“Our miraculous,” she said, trying again to push herself away from him, but he only tightened his grip.

“We still have time.”

The thought of him being wrong, and of them accidentally revealing their identities to each other, had Marinette’s rapid breathing picking up again. Chat noticed the change instantly and released his hold. But rather than letting her leave, he shifted so that he held her face in his hands, forcing her to meet his gaze.

“Breathe, Bugaboo.” The tears continued to stream down her face. “I promise I won’t let either of us reveal our identities, okay?”

She nodded, holding his gaze as she forced her breaths to slow once more. Her eyes widened in panic at the next warning beep. He repeated his promise again. As soon as he was sure she was okay, he broke their eye contact and looked around for a solution. Seeing a low half wall near some sort of electrical equipment, Chat took Ladybug’s hand and pulled her over there.

“Here, sit down.”

Ladybug sat and he quickly moved to the other side of the wall, also sinking down to the ground. Keeping his back to the wall, he reached around it with his arm and sought her hand. Once he had it, he held tight and brought their hands over to rest between them, against the wall.

In the next moment, his transformation dropped. Ladybug tried to pull her hand away, but he held on tight. Her transformation followed. Their hands remained clasped, skin to skin rather than through the two suits they were so used to.

“We’re not leaving here until you tell me what’s wrong.”

Ladybug’s tears had slowed, and she was nearly back in control. She nodded, even though he couldn’t see it. Despite being clearly exhausted, Tikki flew up to nuzzle Marinette’s cheek, giving her whatever comfort she could.

Three more deep breaths and Marinette had regained control of her emotions.

“Thanks, Tikki,” she whispered.

Tikki gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Plagg and I will take our treats and give you two a minute.”

Using her free hand, Marinette opened her purse and pulled out the macaron for her little friend. On his side of the wall, Adrien passed over Plagg’s camembert. No one else said anything until the two kwamis flew off with their bounty.

“You okay over there, Bug?”

Marinette took a long, deep breath. “I think so.”

“Ready to tell me what’s wrong?”

Where should she even start?

“I’m just so… tired, Chat. I don’t know if I can keep doing this.”

“Being Ladybug? The Guardian?”

“All of it.”

He gave her hand a squeeze. “I’m sorry.”

“it’s all just too much. It was hard enough to juggle everything before becoming the Guardian, and now… now I really don’t know if I’m up to it. I feel like I’m failing at everything in my life. My grades are slipping and my parents and friends keep asking me if I’m okay and I barely have enough energy at the end of the day to finish my homework, let alone study everything Master Fu left me. I couldn’t even keep a relationship going, though I’m not sure my busy schedule is the thing to blame for that.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize you two broke up.”

Chat and Ladybug had both started dating someone around the same time. They’d told each other, of course, but they rarely talked about that part of their personal lives. Ladybug felt like it was a topic that could be way too revealing about their civilian identity, so they kept the details to a minimum.

“Yeah. We actually broke up a little over a month ago.”

“Bugaboo, you should have told me. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

She let out a long sigh. “No, it was okay. We both agreed that it just wasn’t working. We’re still friends, and that works much better for us.”

“I’m glad. As for all the other stuff, how can I help?”

“Chat, we both know you’re just as busy as I am.”

“Not quite. I don’t have Guardian duties. Please let me help you with that—in whatever way you want. I can’t let you shoulder it all alone.”

“But I have to, Kitty. It’s my job.”

For several minutes, they sat in silence, each thinking about the truth of her words. Marinette wished that she could take him up on his offer. She wanted to do it more than anything—well, almost anything. But she couldn’t. Responsibilities aside, how would he even help her? It’s not like she could bring the pages out on patrol. In order to really help her, he’d need to know her civilian identity.

And that was what she really wanted more than anything, wasn’t it? But she felt stronger than ever about keeping their identities secret. She’d have to learn his identity one of these days, in her role as Guardian, but she wasn’t ready. As much as she wished it was time, she knew deep in her heart that it wasn’t time. _They_ weren’t ready for that.

She became even more aware of the hard wall at her back. It was such a small wall, barely as tall as her waist, but it played such an important role. It separated them, protecting their secrets. And until it was time, there would always need to be a wall between them—whether physical or not. No matter how much it hurt her to have that distance between them— _he was her partner and her best friend_ —she knew they didn’t have a choice.

“I’m always here for you, Bugaboo. You know that, right?”

Chat’s soft words broke Marinette’s train of thought. Smiling sadly, she gave his hand a squeeze.

“I know, Kitty. I’m always here for you, too.”

“Promise me you’ll tell me if it’s getting to be too much? You’ve been bottling it up and that’s not healthy.”

“I promise. You’ll promise me the same, right?”

A slight hesitation. “Of course. I promise.”

The kwamis returned, sensing the conversation was over. They both called on their transformations before standing up and facing each other.

Chat gave her a wide grin and she couldn’t help but smile back. Maybe she would be okay after all.


End file.
